Railer spikers sweep tri

The Newton High School volleyball team found its form Tuesday, sweeping an Ark Valley-Chisholm Trail League Division I triangular on senior night at Ravenscorft Gym. Newton downed Salina Central 25-23, 25-23; and Hutchinson 25-8, 25-16. Central downed Hutch 25-19, 26-24. “It was pretty cool the way we beat Salina Central,” Newton coach Jamie Dibbens said. “We were down in both games, but we came back to win. That says a lot about how much our team wanted to win tonight.” Central downed Newton earlier this season in league play. In Newton’s last match against Hutchinson, the Railers saw the Salt Hawks whittle away at a big lead and hold off 12 match points before Newton won 29-27, 29-27. “The last time, Hutchinson just hung in there,” Dibbens said. “This time, we knew what to expect. We weren’t caught off guard. They play really good defense.” Newton improves to 30-8, 9-2 in AV-CTL I play. Newton needs to beat Campus next week and for Central to down Maize to claim a share of the division title. Newton honored six seniors — Lauren Duerksen, Emily Hiebert, Andrea Baron, Dakotah Kiehl, Jocelyn Cochran and Abbie Lehman. “We knew it was so important for both league and sub-state that we come out and prove ourselves,” Hiebert said. “Our defense and passing both went really well. We have a lot of hitters, so that gives us a lot of options. We knew (against Hutchinson) we had to keep playing. They never quit, so we had to play them to the end. They have a really scrappy team. ... We were really tired, but we wanted to win on our home court.” Against Central, Newton trailed 9-7, but rallied to take a 14-11 lead. The Mustangs took a time out and ran off six straight points to force a Railer time out. Down 23-19, Newton used blocking by Lehman and Hiebert to run off six straight points. The Railers jumped out 5-1 in the second set, but quickly got reeled back in. Newton led 12-8, but Central rallied to tie the set at 19-19. After a Railer time out, Newton fought to a 23-21 lead. Central tied the match back at 23-23, but a Lauren Duerksen spike and Lehman ace ended the match. Hiebert had 11 kills and a downed block. Lehman had eight kills and four downed blocks. Logan Porter and Duerksen each had four kills. Hiebert served three aces. For Central, Shaelyn Martin had 11 kills. Nicole Morgan had eight kills and two downed blocks. Brooke Peters added eight kills. “Central is good,” Dibbens said. “We may have to play them again in sub-state.” Newton took an 8-1 lead in the first set against Hutchinson, and never looked back. The Railers took a 9-2 lead in the second set. Hutchinson came within five, 16-11, before the Railers made another run to put the match away. Lehman led Newton with four kills and four downed blocks. Duerksen had five kills. Hiebert had three kills. Lehman served four aces, followed by Hiebert with three and Cochran with two. Erika Long led Hutchinson with five kills. Stacy Rottinghaus had three. Haley McMuprhy and Sarah Rothe each had two kills. In the first game of the Hutchinson-Central match, the Mustangs jumped out 20-13. Hutchinson got back within three, 22-19, but Central ran off the next three points. Hutchinson led 8-3 in the second set. Down 16-15, Hutchinson made a 4-0 run. Trailing 24-20, Central fought off four set points. Central scored the next two points for the match. Martin had seven kills for Central, followed by Carson Jett and Emily Wood each had five. Tara Bradley served three aces, followed by Martin with two. For Hutchinson, Long had 17 kills, followed by Rottinghaus with 13. Newton plays Campus and Andover Tuesday in Haysville. “We just need to go out there and play our game,” Dibbens said. “It’s nice that we have a little bit of a break before sub-state. Our girls are tired from playing Tuesday, Thursday, Saturday and Tuesday. We played a lot of good teams. I’m very happy with the way we played during the week.” DERBY INVITATIONAL — The Railers took second Saturday at the Derby Invitational. In pool play, Newton downed Liberal 25-8, 25-22; Wichita Heights 26-24, 25-15; Derby 25-10, 25-19; and Wichita South 25-15, 25-20. In the semifinals, Newton downed Maize South 25-17, 20-25, 25-22. In the championship match, Newton lost to top-ranked (Class 6A, Kansas Volleyball Association) Washburn Rural 25-14, 25-16.Newton tri Newton def. Salina Central 25-23, 25-23 Salina Central def. Hutchinson 25-19, 26-24 Newton def. Hutchinson 25-8, 25-16